Municipal Court Judge Janice Zyrynoff to Retire

After 34 years, Woodburn Municipal Court Judge Janice Zyrynoff is retiring. She started as a judge in March of 1981 here in Woodburn and retiring is bittersweet.

"This was my first judge job," she said. "Woodburn is special to me."

While retiring in Woodburn, Judge Zyrynoff will continue to work for Marion County. She has three years left on her term as Justice of the Peace.

"I will be slowing down and I need my workload to go down, but I still have a full-time job," she said. "I just won't have two jobs anymore."

Judge Zyrynoff graduated from Kent St. University and Cleveland St. University, receiving her law degree in 1979. She left the Midwest and moved to Oregon after her husband, an Old Russian Believer, wanted to farm and be closer to his family.

She worked part-time as Woodburn's City attorney in 1980 before becoming Municipal Court Judge.

The Municipal Court Judge is one of three positions hired by the Woodburn City Council. At Monday's meeting Councilors Rob Carney, Frank Lonergan and Sharon Schaub were appointed to the recruiting committee tasked with replacing Judge Zyrynoff.

Judge Zyrynoff's last official day will be Dec. 31, but she said she will stay on longer if a person is not hired by that date.

"I'm not going to leave the City in need," she said. "I know they will work hard to find a replacement, but I told them not to stress about not having a person by the end of the year. I want them to find the right person and not rush to hire someone."